PHOENIX (Tuesday, February 1, 2011) -- Attorney General Tom Horne announced today that Arizona has withdrawn from a United States District Court lawsuit in which Arizona had previously supported the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) greenhouse gas regulatory scheme.

Because of this action, Arizona will no longer support the proposed EPA Reporting Rule requiring mandatory reporting of greenhouse gas emissions above appropriate thresholds in all sectors of the U.S. economy. The state will also no longer support the Endangerment Finding and so-called California Waiver portions of the regulations.

“I am passionate about protecting the rights of individual states under the 10th Amendment. And I am equally passionate about limiting government intrusion into the ability of employers to reasonably operate their businesses,” Horne said. “This regulatory scheme is a classic example of a federal agency trying to do the job of elected legislators and at the same time place burdensome mandates on business.”

“The federal government cannot continue to increase its size and scope at the expense of the constitutional protections envisioned by the Founders. This proposed EPA action would exacerbate that problem and have therefore withdrawn the support this action was given by my predecessor,” Horne concluded.